Emily Dursley and the Cursed Corridor
by spy5
Summary: the story is about Dudley's daughter and her adventures with her friends.
1. King

**KING'S CROSS**

"Hurry up, Dad!" exclaimed a little girl with a cascade of dark brown, curly hair that fell to her hips, pulling her plump, piggy-eyed father by his arm along the station. As they came towards platform 9, Dudley Dursley recollected the memory of leaving his cousin there twenty-four years ago and jeering at him for hunting imaginary platforms.

"Now,Dad" the girl said, shaking Dudley back to his senses. "Where is Uncle Harry?"

"He'll probably be here in a few minutes, Emily. I've written to him about your letter and he said he'll be here to help you find your platform," he said as he checked his watch and gave the crowded station a sweeping look.

"I can't wait to see him, Dad!" Emily said, jumping with excitement.

"Neither me, Em. I've not seen him for ages. He was quite glad to know that you got a letter. He said you were called a muggle-born or something..." Dudley said when a tall, bespectacled, black-haired man , a woman with bushy brown hair, two black-haired boys, one of them slightly shorter, bespectacled and exactly like his father and a small timid girl clutching her mother's hand, emerged from the crowd. Harry had no difficulty in identifying his cousin as he was exactly like his father, Vernon Dursley, except for the bushy moustache.

"Hey, Dudley!" Harry said, took Dudley's ham-like hand and shook it vigourously. Dudley grinned at him, exibiting all his clean, white teeth. Dudley had long since started liking witches and wizards and become very Un-Dursleyish by willingly accepting the fact that his only daughter, Emily, was a witch.

"Just walk straight through the barrier in between platforms 9 and 10," Harry told Emily "Like this," he said and walked through the barrier as if it was completely hollow and dissappeared from sight.

Dudley and Emily followed him without a word. On the other side, the five Potters and the two Dursleys stood on the crowded platform, James and Emily pushing their trolleys laden with a trunk and an owl cage.

"This is James and its his first year at Hogwarts too," Harry told Emily and Dudley. "This is Hermione, Albus and Lily ," he continued, pointing to each of them.

They edged their way through the crowd towards the scarlet steam engine.

"I hope I'm sorted into Gryffindor," James said nervously.

"You will be, I'm sure. But it doesn't matter to us which house you're in," Hermione said.

"It does to me," he said as he hugged his parents. "Bye Mum, Dad, Al, Lily, Uncle Dudley," James said.

"Keep writing to me often," he told his Mum.

"I'll write to you seven times a week if you want me to," Hermione said and grinned at her eldest son. Harry muttered something about howlers which was louder than he had probably meant to say it.

"What?"she asked, quickly turning her head towards Harry and gave him a look not unlike the one a mother who was forcing the truth out of her son would give him. With one last look at Harry, Hermione, Albus, Lily and Dudley, James and Emily went into the train to find themselves a compartment.


	2. Hogwarts again

**HOGWARTS AGAIN**

They didn't have much difficulty in finding one as they had come early and most of them were empty. When they sat down, Emily asked,

"Sorry to ask, but what is 'Glyffindor' or whatever?"

"Oh, Gryffindor is a house in Hogwarts. Both my parents were in Gryffindor," James said.

"Then I wish I'm in it too!" Emily said.

"Hi James! Mind if we joines you'll?" asked a pretty girl with waist-length blonde hair. Behind her, stood a boy who resembled her very much; he probably must've been her brother.

"Oh, not at all, Hannah" James said, pointing with both his arms outstretched towards the empty seats in exactly the same way his dad had done for Ron twenty-four years ago. They came in and took their seats, closing the door behind them.

"So, twins, tell me, when did your hair turn blonde?" James asked them.

"Oh, we didn't want to be typical '_Weasleys_', you know, red hair and stuff. So we told dad and he turned our hair blonde and removed our freckles," Harvey said in a voice that was exactly like his father's, George Weasley's.

"Uncle Ron was quite impressed, he's never been successful at changing his appearence. He tried making his hair as blonde as Aunt Luna and it turned green. Dad helped him get it back to normal," Hannah told them.

"This is Emily, the daughter of my dad's cousin," James added hastily as he had forgotten to introduce her. The twins introduced themselves to Emily. Emily was very glad to meet them. By the end of the journey, they had exchanged so much information about the muggle and wizarding worlds and become the best of friends. They were awaited by Hagrid as usual at the Hogmeade station and he escorted the first-years to the castle by boat.


	3. The Sorting

**THE SORTING **

Professor Malfoy lead the first-years from the Entrance Hall to the Great Hall through the magnificent oak doors. As they approached the Sorting Hat, it burst into a song:

"Though I say this all the years,

I say again, 'Welcome, first-years!'

The bold Gryffindors, chivalrous and brave,

The cunning Slytherins are sly and grave.

The pure Hufflepuffs, loyal and just,

The clever Ravenclaws have brains without dust.

Now I really long,

To sort you into the houses you belong!"

The slit it had for a mouth closed and everyone applauded. Malfoy withdrew a parchment from beneath his robes and opened it.

"When you are called, you will sit on this stool and I'll place the Sorting Hat on your head. Then you'll get sorted into your houses," he said. "Potter,James." James nearly ran to the rickety stool and crammed the hat onto his head excitedly.

As soon as the Sorting Hat touched his head, it shouted, "Another Potter? Is there a _question_?!! GRYFFINDOR!"

James threw the hat off and bolted off to the Gryffindor table, filled with delight. Everyone in Gryffindor cheered loudly and some shouted things like _'He's HARRY POTTER'S son!!!'_. Many of them cleared place for him and beckoned him to sit next to them. He chose a seat next to Victorie Weasley, Bill weasley's daughter. She was in her fourth year and played chaser in the Gryffindor Quidditch team. On the other side of her sat a boy with black dreadlocks, Neil Jordan who was also a fourth-year and was Quidditch commentator. He patted James on the back and Victorie grinned at him. Harvey and Hannah were also sorted into Gryffindor. Professor Malfoy's son, Scorpius Malfoy was placed in Slytherin.

"Macmillan, Franklin," Malfoy called. A brown - haired boy who was quite tall for an eleven-year old sat down on the three-legged stool, shaking slightly with fear.

"Aaah" the old, ragged hat said softly. "I see a pure mind, straight forward, too... I'll put you in... Hufflepuff!" said the Sorting Hat . Franklin removed the dirty hat and placed it back on the stool so delicately as if he was handling a badly injured creature. The Hufflepuffs cheered as he went and joined them at their table. The sorting went on till the only person left was Emily.

"Dursley, Emily," Malfoy read from his roll of parchment. She timidly walked towards the Sorting Hat. She was trembling from head to foot and she couldn't walk steadily. She sat down, still tremling as Malfoy placed the hat on her long, brown hair.

"Mmmmmmmmmm... Your mind is pure, I see. I see a lot of intelligence too. Also smart and daring. There's plenty of courage and bravery. Where shall I place you? Let me think..." And it thought for a long time. Emily muttered,

"Please , Gryffindor. Pleeeease, pleeeease Gryffindor... pleeeeeeeeease..."

"Mmmmmm... Gyffindor, you say, lets see"

Emily wondered how the hat had heard what she had said so softly to herself. The whole school was completely silent.

"I'll place you in ...GRYFFINDOR!" it boomed. A loud cheer arose from the Gryffindor table but even before Emily got off the stool, a loud bang sounded from a few floors above and a booming roar thundered across the Great Hall. All the the students started running helter-skelter around the Great Hall, knocking over chairs and fellow students.

"SILENCE!!!!!!!!!" shouted Prfessor Longbottom, Headmaster and Herbology teacher of Hogwarts. "Please calm down and sit," he said with his voice still raised. Though many of the students started stirring back to their places, still terrified, some first-years were still running around so petrified that they hadn't even heard their headmaster.

"Please sit down," Neville repeated, raising his voice still further. They appeared not to have heard again. Some of their friends got up, pulled them to their seats and forced them into it. Emily, who had still been sitting on the stool, got up and went to the Gryffindor table. Each step she took echoed eeriely in the silent hall. She was as terrified as the others. She dropped into the seat next to James.

"I've sent your Dark Arts teacher, Professor Malfoy to see what it was. Please remain calm," Neville said and when he finished, a soft, muffled cry of pain from overhead sounded in the Great Hall. It was followed by the roaring voice and it boomed, "STUN THE FIRST-YEARS".

This time, everyone was too petrified even to move, they sat as still as statues. The groaning grew steadily louder as Professor Malfoy appeared at the foot of the marble staircase, clutching his right hand in his left with a pained expression on his face. He ran to the Head Table and spoke to the headmaster without even bothering to keep his voice down and forgetting the fact that over a hundred students were staring at him and could hear him.

"Sir...Neville...The... third floor... right-hand side... corridor." He was completely breathless and was gasping.

"Wait, Draco. Relax, then tell me what has happened," Neville said, looking concerned. It took several minutes for Draco Malfoy to regain his breath and he said,

"Sir, the door of the third floor, right-hand side corridor has closed and when I tried opening it, it burnt my hand. Then, it yelled at me to stun the first-years. You must have heard that"

"Yes, we did. Now, prefects, please lead your houses to your dormitories safely. No one is to go near the third floor right-hand side corridor and first years, you'll can look around later. Dinner will be served in your Common Rooms," he said, addressing the students.

They got up noiselessly and followed their prefects. Jennifer Wood, who played keeper in the Gryffindor Quidditch team, lead the Gryffindors up the marble staircase, along a few corridors, and up two more flights of stairs, to the Gryffindor tower. Professor Weasley, head of Gryffindor house and Transfiguration teacher walked into the common room through the potrait hole shortly after all the students had settled down. She was a beautiful, young woman with flaming red hair.

"I'm the head of Gryffindor house and I'll your transfiguration teacher," Ginny Weasley said. She read out the school rules to the first-years and they went to bed after dinner.

Emily's mind was filled with excitement and curiosity that night. She had never felt like that before. She was very excited that it was the first time she was staying in the wizarding world and the commotion in the Great Hall added to her excitment. She was remotely sleepy and just lay in her four-poster bed in the Girls' dormitories restlessly, looking at Hannah snoring in her bed on one side, Jenny on the other side. The moonlight flooded into the dormitory through the glass window behind her bed. She threw off her sheets and quietly crept to the window. She sat there, gazing at the dark, starry sky with an owl or two swooping around. She rolled the thought of the roar and what Professor Malfoy had said, around her mind. As she did so, she fell asleep, sitting on the window sill. Emily slept peacefully for a few hours.

"Emily? Hey, Em!"

Emily felt someone shaking her with their soft hands.

"Em? Are you alright? Is anything wrong?"

The girl's voice - or at least thought it was a girl - was full of concern. Emily opened her eyes slightly and saw Hannah looking down at her, pushing her blonde hair out of her pretty face.

"Em, what happened?" she asked. Emily got herself to a sitting position. She looked out of the window ; the clear sky was the colour of diluted ink and looked like somewhere between midnight and daybreak.

"What happened, Em? Why were you sleeping here?" Hannah repeated.

"Oh, I wasn't sleepy and I was just sitting here, gazing at the sky and... and ..and I just... must have...slept here."

"Oh, thank goodness nothing's wrong. I just happened to open my eyes in half-sleep and saw you sprawled upon the floor. Just woke you up," Hannah said. The two girls went back to their beds and fell asleep.


	4. Quidditch

**QUIDDITCH **

The next day began with Transfiguration for the Gryffindor and Slytherin first-years.

"Today," Ginny told her class, "you will be learning how to change colours of objects." She pointed her wand at a white quill that was lying on her desk and said, "Colorus Incantetam." It turned a perfect, bright blue. "Got your quills, everyone?" Ginny asked ; everyone nodded.

There were sounds of _'Colorus Incantetam'_ everywhere. Scorpius Malfoy's and his friend, Max Flint's quills remained perfectly white. Some quills caught flames, some began to smoke. Some students had managed to change the colour of atleast half a quill. Ginny kept walking around the class, monitoring her students' work. She paused near Emily. Emily pointed her wand at her quill and muttered "Colorus Incantetam." It turned a pleasant green.

"Excellent, Ms.Dursley, 10 points to Gryffindor" Ginny said and continued patrolling the classroom.

The bell sounded across the castle and the class dispersed. That afternoon, Gryffindor Quidditch trials began. Emily and James arrived at the Quidditch pitch, holding their Superswipes, a new racer broom. They were shortly followed by Harvey, Hannah and other first-years, all clutching their brooms. The only three remaining members of the existing Quidditch team appeared at the pitch with their broomsticks.

"I'm Jake Wood, chaser and captain. As you'll know, you all have assembled here for Quidditch trials. There are four vacancies. We're in need of a chaser, a seeker and two beaters. We'll start with chasers. Chasers, over here," Jake said as Emily and three more first-years lined up. The first years, Jake and his sister soared into the air. Jenny took her position near the goal-hoops and Jake in mid-air, holding the Quaffle. He threw it high into the air and as it came down, penetrating the air, a black-haired girl caught it and headed towards the goal-posts. When she was near enough, she threw it but even before Jenny could block it, Emily whizzed in between and caught the Quaffle, ducked down to avoid an approaching Bludger and threw the red ball right through the centre goal hoop. Jake blew the whistle and all the players sped back to the ground.

"Emily, you're on the team!" Jake said. She jumped up in joy, throwing back her long, brown ponytail and punching the air with her fist. The trials continued. James was chosen as seeker and the twins were selected as beaters.

One cold November evening, Emily and Harvey sat at a table in the corner of the Gryffindor common room, their Defence Against the Dark Arts books open in front of them and they were talking rapidly in whispers. James and Hannah appeared through the potrait hole, grinning broadly. They spotted Harvey and Emily in the corner, still whispering rapidly. They went to the table in the corner.

"What's up,Em?" James asked as he and Hannah sat down.

"Oh, nothing... just-" Emily started but Harvey interrupted.

"This is ridiculous! James, you know what she wants to do?! She is going to sneak out at night and try opening the third floor right-hand side corridor!"

"Oh, that's cool," James said.

"What?! Oh, yeah. Not a bad idea," Hannah said.

"What's wrong with you'll? Don't you see the danger behind it?! It seems it has started shooting spells at people. Neil told me that it fired a stinging hex at a Slytherin first-year," Harvey said.

"Oh, really? Hope it is Scorpius, that little git," James added with a smirk.

"Oh, shut up James," Hannah said.

"Okay. How many are in it?" Emily asked and put her hand on the table.

James and Hannah put their hands on top of hers.

"Okay, then. I guess I'm in it too," Harvey said reluctantly as he placed his hand on top of his sister's. "When are we going?" he asked.

"We'll go next week, after the Quidditch match," Emily said.

"We'll be having practice and stuff," James added.

The whole of next week went mainly in Quidditch practice. Their potions master, Professor Hawkins had started in shrinking Potions. They were still stuck with the hovering charm in Charms. In Transfiguration, they had moved onto changing needles into matchsticks. They were studying about Red Caps in Defence Against the Dark Arts. On the morning of the Quidditch match, the whole school had assembled in the stands, some of them with red flags and some holding green ones. The seven players had assembled in the Gryffindor changing room. Jake gave them a pep-talk and reminded them of all the moves they had practised. The four first-years in the team were nervous as it was their first match. The two teams walked onto the pitch with their broomsticks. The whole crowd cheered loudly and many of them waved green and red banners. The captains of both teams - Jake Wood and Alyson White - shook hands. Madam Spinnet blew her whistle and threw the Quaffle into the air.

"Stacey Osment has caught the Quaffle and is heading towards the goal posts. She dodges a Bludger and heads forwards and ... oh, she has dropped the Quaffle and... Weasley catches it. A Bludger approaches and she throws it to Dursley. She catches it and zooms towards the Slytherin goal posts. She dodges a bludger sent by Micheal Finnigan. She throws the Quaffle, Flint tries block it and...she SCORES!!!! That's 10 points for Gryffindor," Neil Jordan said.

The two seekers, James Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, were frozen in mid air on their brooms, watching the chaser shoot goals and the keepers block them, with no clue of where the snitch was. When it was a 30 to 90 for Gryffindor, James saw a tiny glint of gold flutter past his head. He made a dash for it. The snitch went high up, James zoomed after it and Scorpius followed him. Though he had not seen the snitch, he realised that James had seen it. James chased the snitch around and stands and when he was quite close, he stretched out both his , balancing himself on his Superswipe with his legs.

"It looks like Potter has seen the snitch and...he catches it!!!!!!!! James Potter has caught the snitch!!!!"

Madam Spinnet blew the whistle.

"It's a 90-point victory by Gryffindor!!!!!!!!" Neil said.

All the fourteen players zoomed back to the ground and all the Gryffindor-supporters cheered loudly.

That evening, the seven players were the centers of attraction in the Gryffindor common room. Neil had managed to nick butterbeers from the kitchen and the whole of Gryffindor were celebrating their victory against Slytherin. The celebrations went on till late evening when the crowded common room started clearing. At last when everybody had gone to the dormitories, Emily, James, Hannah and Harvey came back to the empty,littered common room, James holding his Invisibility cloak.


	5. The Cursed Corridor

**THE CURSED CORRIDOR **

They crept out through the potrait hole, huddled up very close together under James' invisibility cloak. They headed towards the third floor corridor and Harvey suddenly gasped.

"What is it?" Hannah asked irritatedly through gritted teeth as they skidded to a halt outside a locked classsroom.

"That day, the roar was so loud that the whole castle could hear. What if it wakes everyone now?" he whispered.

"Hope it doesn't," Emily said though she was very sure it would roar and wake the whole castle. But she didn't want to agree that there was a flaw in the plan.

"Anyway, we're invisible, so atleast we can't be caught," she said and consoled herself.

"I mean, who cares about breaking rules when we're not going to be caught?" she added as they continued towards the third floor.

"My Mum used to so hesitant to break rules, you know. Dad told me," James said, attempting a laugh and breaking the deep silence but it only made them all more nervous about breaking rules and the silence became still more deeper.

They finally reached the corridor and Emily drew her wand from her pocket. She pointed it at the doorknob and whispered,

"Alohomora". It did not budge and Emily looked quite disappointed though she had not expected it to open.

"I think I'll just have to do it," she said.

"Do what?" Hannah asked.

"Try opening it manually," came Emily's immediate reply. Harvey's mouth fell open and he shut it again, deciding not to argue. This had been a topic they had discussed and decided about during their short conversations when they didn't have Quidditch practice. Emily reached for the doorknob from under the hem of the silvery, now transparent cloak. Her fingers closed around the brass doorknob and she was hoping desperately not to burn them.

"It didn't burn me!" Emily whispered in delight but her voice was drowned by a low, soft growl.

"It's telling me to come in," Emily said gleefully and turned around to look at the others. They looked half-terrified and half-confused ; all the three opened and closed their mouths in unison, not knowing what to say. Emily threw the cloak off herself and turned the doorknob. Even before the others could say anything, she had disappeared behind the door and it clanged back shut.

Emily was standing in a long, high-ceilinged, stone-walled corridor. It was lit by dull flames flickering in the brackets of their torches. She tried opening the door again but her attempt failed. She could hear the worried murmurs of her friends' on the other side. She groaned as she turned around and walked towards the door at the other end of the corridor, behind which a three-headed dog had once guarded the Philosopher's stone. She kept her wand at the ready, expecting something to burst out from the door at any moment. When she was half way down the long corridor, the flames in all the torches flickered out except for the two closest to the door that gave Emily just enough light to see the outline of the door. A cold breeze blew along the corridor and made Emily freeze with terror and cold. For a moment, she was visited by a very childish thought : She wished that she wasn't a witch. She would have been sleeping in her cosy bedroom, back at the Dursleys' , safely away from all the mysterious happenings if she hadn't been a witch.

She lit her wand and continued walking with her wand held high above her head, trying to cast its light as far as possible. When she reached the door at last, she tried the doorknob but it was locked. She tried all the spells she knew on the door but it remained locked. Then, Emily noticed somthing for the first time : a tiny lion was carved on the brass doorknob that dazzled in the light from Emily's wand and the only two torches that still had light in them. She went down on her knees beside the doorknob so that her black eyes were exactly in level with the carved lion. She stared at it intensely and after a long gaze, she said,

_"Open."_ The lion on the doorknob nodded and the door swung open with a click.

Emily had completely forgotten about everything, that her friends might still be waiting worriedly outside the corridor, that anyone may discover that they were out of their beds. She had even forgotten herself and now all she knew was that she was standing on the threshold of a large, dimly lit room with stone statues of lions that bordered it. On one side, steps were cut into the ceiling. It appeared as if there was a flight of stairs just above it. Emily thought she had seen movement behind one of the statues. Her curiosity carried her to the place where she had seen or imagined movement. Her footsteps echoed across the large, silent room as her feet hit the stone floor. The room looked incomplete without windows and made it look eerier. Even before she reached the spot, a furry creature came out on all fours from behind the statue. It gave a low growl. Emily went a little closer to have a look at it with her wand ready. Her black eyes took only a few seconds to get used to the dim lighting. They rested upon the creature which their owner recognised as a lion. The black pair met with the dark orange pair of the creature's.

"What is this place? What-" she stopped, deciding to frame her question differently and continued, "I mean, who are you?"

The creature did not reply but stood still, gazing straight into Emily's eyes. Emily felt heat passing from her eyes to the rest of her body and she tried again.

_" What place is this? Who are you?" _

_"This is the passage created by Godric Gryffindor," _ the lion replied.

_"But how is it that the others couldn't enter the corridor and my hand wasn't burnt? How did this door open when I asked it to?" _ she asked.

_"It is because you are a firethorn," _ it said.

_"What is a firethorn?" _

_"A person who can speak to lions. You are one and that is how you are talking to me now. You are talking in firetongue, the language of the lions," _ it said and even when it spoke, it had a tinge of growl in its voice.

_"If this was made by Godric Gryffindor, then it must have been there for a very long time. Why is it appearing only now?" _ she asked as many more questions burst into her head like fireworks.

_"It was made in such a way_ _that it appeared only when a firethorn came to the school. Godric Gryffindor was a firethorn and you are the first firethorn to ever study in Hogwarts," _ the lion said.

_'That is why it appeared as soon as I was sorted, when I actually became part of the school' _Emily thought. Her mind raced through all the books about magic she had read. Not one of them said that Godric Gryffindor had the ability of talking to lions ; even the word 'firethorn' wasn't mentioned in any of them.

_"Why didn't anyone know about this?" _ Emily asked the lion.

_"Godric Gryffindor was modest. He didn't go around telling everyone about his abilities and talents unlike Salazar_ _Slytherin."_

All the questions stopped bursting like fireworks inside Emily as if someone had poured water over them.

_"What should I do now?" _she asked.

_"Nothing" _ it said icily. There was a tinge of sarcasm in the lion's voice. It continued, seeing the puzzled look on Emily's beautiful face.

_"After this many years of starving, YOU SHALL BE MY PREY!!" _ it thundered.

Emily pointed her wand at the lion but she was so terrified that no spell came to her mind. The furry wildcat was advancing upon her as she backed away.

"Stupefy" she cried.

The lion was just pushed off balance for a few seconds and it got up again. Emily did not know if this was because her stunning spell was too weak or the lion was very powerful.

"Wingardium Leviosa" Emily muttered, directing her wand at the statue right behind the lion. It flew into the air and she released it when it was just above the lion's head. It fell on the lion with a clang. The furry creature lay motionless for a few minutes while Emily desperately thought of some way of escape. The statue that had made the lion unconscious had shattered to pieces and the lion had started to stir again. Emily felt completely helpless when a line from a book she had read during the few days in the wizarding world, flew into her head : 'A lion will lose almost all its powers when it loses its mane...'

"That's it!!" she said and before the lion was fully conscious, she did a complicated move with her wand, pointing it at the lion's mane and muttered a few words. Bright blue flames shot out from her wand and the lion's mane ignited. She had been the only one in her Charms class who had done that spell with excellence. She stared at the lion gleefully and it woke. It showed no sign of discomfort as its mane burnt and in a few seconds, it's mane was completely charred and lay as ashes on the cold stone floor. Emily threw the shattered pieces of the stone statue at the lion and muttered a few words, directing her wand at it. The pieces pierced into the lion's soft fur and it fell to the ground, dead. Emily turned around to find an escape route when dust started blowing in through the cracks in the walls and there were crunching noises : the room was collapsing. She made a dash for the door as the statues started crumbling down. The door didn't budge, even when Emily tried firetongue. The little light that the room had, went out and Emily lit her wand. She desperately tried opening the door when one of the steps cut on the ceiling glowed. Without pausing to think if it was help or more danger, she pointed her wand straight up at the glowing step and screamed,

"ASCENDIO." All the crunching and crashing noises ceased and she found herself standing on a staircase. People were running on the corridor so fast that everything seemed like a blur to Emily. She rushed down to the third floor. She found many students gathered around the right-hand side corridor. Most of them were in their night clothes and some of them had dressing gowns. Emily's eyes raked the crowd for her friends as she forced her way through her fellow students. James, Hannah and Harvey were right in front of the door and James was pounding the door and shouting madly,

"EMILY! ARE YOU OK? EMILY?! EMILY??!!" She squeezed her way towards them and put her hand on James' shoulder making him jump.

"I'm okay, its all fine. I'm fine," she said breathlessly. The three were very shocked and releived and James, who was the first one to recover from the shock, pulled Emily into a tight hug. As they came apart, Ginny Weasley came wading through the crowd.

"What's going on here?" she asked, half-stern, half-puzzled. They were on their way to the headmaster's office when Emily whispered in Hannah's ear,

"How did so many people wake up?"

"There was a thunderous roar like the other day," she replied.

"Password?" asked the gargoyle which stood outside the Headmaster's office.

"Devil's snare" Ginny said and the gargoyle jumped aside to reveal a moving spiral staircase. She ushered her four students forward and followed. They found the door open and Neville was sitting behind his desk.

"Oh, it's you Ginny. Please come in," he said.

Ginny, Emily, Harvey, Hannah and James went in. Emily narrated everything that had happened in the corridor and the room.

"And then one of the steps glowed a bright red and I came through it. Sir, it was the jinxed step!" Emily exclaimed as she recollected the place where she had reappeared. "Yes, it was the step, sir, if you place your foot on it, your foot goes in and it is very hard to pull out. The jinx was removed when I came through it!!"

James and the twins were dumbstruck.

"Sir, could you please tell me, since when had this step been jinxed?" Emily asked excitedly.

"It has been there ever since Hogwarts started, according to what everyone says," Neville said.

"Then, the jinx must've been placed by Godric Gryffindor," Emily said.

"You must be aware that you have broken some school rules," Professor Longbottom said, addressing the four students and their smiles faded. "And to Gryffindor house, I award 50 points each for showing true bravery."

Their smiles were restored on their faces, much brighter this time.

"To Ms. Dursley, I award another 100 points for having done services to the school."

The third floor right-hand side corridor was restored back to normal. There was no more danger lurking in Hogwarts. All was well.

_Every great wizard has something dark... _


End file.
